- Address: Pjodveldisbaer, Sudurland, Iceland;
- Working hours: from June 1 to August 31, from 10.00 to 17.00.
Iceland is attractive at any time of the year: regardless of the season and traveling to different regions of this country, tourists will certainly discover something fascinating.
Pjodveldisbaer: visiting the Vikings
"One of the best preserved secrets of Iceland" is called the house-museum of the Vikings Pjodveldisbaer, located in the south of this country. It represents a reconstructed farm on which Vikings lived during the period 930-1262. The museum complex began to be built in 1974 and was opened in three years, when on June 24, 1977 the 1100th anniversary of the settlement of Iceland was celebrated.
The house museum conveys the atmosphere of everyday life of the largest Icelandic families in the era of the early Middle Ages. The authors of the project tried to accurately preserve not only the sizes and forms of residential buildings that were erected in those times, but also their situation. The complex Pjodveldisbaer includes living quarters, agricultural land, a woodworking site, a small church.
Immediately after entering the house, visitors enter the corridor. In it, hundreds of years ago, the Vikings left their wet outer clothing, and also stored tools. In the back room of the hostess, food reserves were stored for storage: grain, smoked and dried meat, dairy products. Also, visitors to the museum house will see how in those early years the Viking people were equipped with latrines.
The living room (or the central hall) was the main part of the farm. Here, its inhabitants gathered to perform daily work, eating and socializing near the fire. This room was also called the fireplace hall. In one of its corners is a tool made of natural stone for grinding grain.
In the museum Pjodveldisbaer tourists will certainly be shown how the inhabitants of the farm slept. Habitual beds then replaced "sleeping chambers" or a closet-bed. They are also located in the living room. In the house-museum there is another living room - especially for women. In them, the hostess wove linens and arranged lavish feasts.
On the territory of the Pjodveldisbaer complex there is a small chapel built of wood and covered with peat. It was erected in 2000 on the foundation of a real church, which archaeologists discovered during excavations over 30 years ago. Immediately after the construction, the chapel was consecrated by the Bishop of Iceland on the occasion of the Millennium celebration from the moment this country adopted Christianity.
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How to get to the house-museum of the Vikings?
The museum complex of Vikings Pjodveldisbaer is located 110 km from Reykjavik . You can reach it by road from the town of Selfoss , following the road 1: the path towards Flúðir takes about half an hour.
The Viking house-museum Pjodveldisbaer in the Tjörtsaurdalur valley is open to visitors from June 1 to August 31 every day. Working hours: 10.00-17.00. The ticket for an adult costs 750 Icelandic kroner, for children under 16, admission is free.
The telephones of the house-museum of the Vikings: +354 488 7713 and +354 856 1190